United in Diversity?

Trends and practices in European corporate reporting

To what extent does narrative reporting in European annual reports show evidence of convergence around a common set of standards?

On one level, this survey aims to provide an overview of corporate reporting practices and trends, an assessment of the current state of corporate responsibility reporting in Europe, and views on how electronic reporting is likely to evolve in the short to mid term. Our sample was the top 100 companies in Europe by market capitalisation, as of 1 June 2007.

But there is a broader purpose to this survey, which was born of a desire to answer a more fundamental question: To what extent does narrative reporting in European annual reports show evidence of convergence around a common set of standards?